US Domestic News Roundup: Mexican man who shielded wife in Texas mass shooting dies; After shootings, Trump reins in his attacks - for now

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Mexican man who shielded wife in Texas mass shooting dies

A Mexican man who threw himself in front of his wife to shield her from bullets in a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, died on Monday, officials and his family said, raising the toll of Mexican nationals killed in one of two-weekend mass shootings in the United States to eight. Juan de Dios Velazquez, 77, had moved to El Paso with his wife Estela Nicolasa, 65, from Ciudad Juarez, just across the border in Mexico, six months before they were caught in Saturday's mass shooting at a Walmart store.

Teen victim of Texas mass shooting straddled bi-national culture

Several hundred students, teachers, and relatives filled a high school athletic stadium in Texas on Monday to honor a teenager of U.S.-Mexican citizenship who was the youngest of 22 killed in a shooting rampage police suspect was driven by racism. Javier Rodriguez, 15, was one week into his sophomore year at Horizon High School, where he played on the soccer team when he was cut down by gunfire at a Walmart store on Saturday in the west Texas border city of El Paso.

Private funeral mass held for the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy

A private funeral mass was held on Monday for the 22-year-old granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, who died last week after being found unresponsive at the family's compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, a family spokesman said. Saoirse Kennedy Hill was laid to rest following the mass at Our Lady of Victory Church in Centerville, Massachusetts, Kennedy family spokesman Brian O'Connor said.

Death toll from Texas shooting rampage rises to 22, Trump to visit El Paso

Two more victims of a shooting rampage at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, died of their wounds on Monday, police said, raising the death toll to 22 in the massacre as U.S. President Donald Trump planned a visit to the stricken community. The latest fatalities bring to 31 the number of victims killed during the weekend in mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, that have touched off a new furor over gun violence in the United States.

Biden leads Democrats as minorities favor most electable candidate versus Trump: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Joe Biden maintained his lead for the Democratic presidential nomination as minorities gravitated toward the former vice president and his top rival, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, in search of the safest bets for beating President Donald Trump in 2020, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. The Aug. 1-5 public opinion poll, released on Wednesday, showed that 22% of Democrats and independents would vote for Biden, a level that is unchanged from a similar poll that ran last month. Another 18% said they supported Sanders, up 2 percentage points from the July poll.

Long before shooting, Dayton gunman threatened fellow students with 'hit list'

The 24-year-old gunman who killed nine people in a rampage in Dayton, Ohio, had a troubled past, including threatening fellow students in high school, authorities said, but police said it was too soon to establish a motive for the slaughter. The gunman, wielding an assault-style rifle and wearing body armor and a mask, inflicted carnage early on Sunday on a neighborhood known for its nightlife.

Twenty-year sentence for Florida man who sent explosives to Trump critics

A Florida man who mailed pipes filled with explosives to prominent Democrats and critics of U.S. President Donald Trump was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday. Cesar Sayoc, 57, who pleaded guilty in March to using weapons of mass destruction and other crimes, began crying when U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan read the sentence.

After shootings, Trump reins in his attacks - for now

After back-to-back mass shootings in two states over the weekend spurred widespread condemnation of his rhetoric and style, President Donald Trump chose to suppress his instinct to attack his rivals - at least for now. Trump has spent a large part of the summer engaged in attacks on four minority congresswomen and an African-American lawmaker from Baltimore. He has long railed against illegal immigrants, characterizing a surge of asylum seekers from Central America as an "invasion."

Singer R. Kelly charged in Minnesota with soliciting sex from a minor

Singer R. Kelly, jailed in New York last month after he was charged in Brooklyn and Chicago with numerous sexual misconduct felonies, was charged on Monday in Minnesota with soliciting sex from a minor at a Minneapolis hotel room 18 years ago. The 52-year-old R&B vocalist known for such hits as "I Believe I Can Fly," is accused in the Minnesota case of paying a 17-year-old girl $200 to take off her clothes and dance for him, and then engaging in sexual contact. (Complaint: http://bit.ly/2YKuBYK)

U.S. has lost 24 million acres of natural land in 16 years: independent report

The United States has lost the equivalent of nine Grand Canyon national parks, or 24 million acres (9712455.41 hectares) of natural area, between 2001 and 2017 due to agriculture, energy development, housing sprawl and other human factors, making the country more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, according to a report released Tuesday. The study by progressive think tank Center for American Progress titled "How Much Nature Should America Keep" said the U.S. needs to set a goal to protect 30% of land and oceans by 2030 to stem the rapid decline of natural areas, which will protect the country from the worst impacts of climate change and wildlife extinction.